Britain
Britain is a name used in various Arthurian texts for 1.) the island of Great Britain, 2.) for a kingdom approximately co-terminous with England, representing the Roman province of Britain, 3.) and for the kingdom of Brittany in western Gaul. Origins of the Name Historic Speculation Britain was visited and described by the Greek traveler Pytheas from whose material Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Ptolemy and others refer to the Pretanic Isles, in inhabited by the Pretani. In Old Welsh this is Priten. The corresponding form in Q-Celtic (Irish) is Cruithin which Irish writers use to refer to the people known in Latin as the Picti (‘Picts’, ‘Painted Ones’). The older Latin name was likewise Pretania. Julius Caesar was principally responsible for introducing the forms Britanni for the island’s people and Britannia for the island, perhaps influenced by forms that the names took in the dialect of the Belgic Britons. The eytmology of the name is unknown. Legendary Sources The Britons are Named From Brutus The Historia Britonum traces the name to one Brutus. Three versions are here given of Brutus’ origins. In the first tale, Brutus was a descendant of Silvius Posthumus, a son whom Lavinia bore to Aeneas after Aeneas’ death. Brutus was consul when he first conquered Spain and reduced it to a Roman province. Brutus then conquered Britain which he named after himself. The second version relates that Ascanius, the son whom Aeneas brought from Troy, was the father of Brutus who killed both his mother and father. For his mother died in giving birth to Brutus and Brutus killed his father Ascanius with an arrow by accident, for which reason Brutus was exiled. Brutus came to the island of the Tyrrhene sea, but was exiled again because he was grandson of Aeneas who had killed Turnus. Finally Brutus came to Britain which he named after himself. The third version names Brutus as the son of Silvius, son of Ascanius, son of Aeneas. Silvius is here the father of two sons: Posthumus, from whom the Kings of Alba Longa descend, and Brutus, from whom the Britons descend. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae adopts the third origin, but also tells the story of how Brutus killed his father and mother, and was driven into exile. The Britons Descend from Brutus son of Istaevone Tacitus in his Germania states (as translated by Thomas Gordon): In their old ballads (which amongst them are the only sort of registers and history) they celebrate Tuisto, a God sprung from the earth, and Mannus his son, as the fathers and founders of the nation. To Mannus they assign three sons, after whose names so many people are called; the Ingaevones, dwelling next the ocean; the Herminones, in the middle country; and all the rest, Istaevones. Some, borrowing a warrant from the darkness of antiquity, maintain that the God had more sons, that thence came more denominations of people, the Marsians, Gambrians, Suevians, and Vandalians, and that these are the names truly genuine and original. The Historia Britonum contains a derived version of this material in which Mannus is corrupted to Alanus. It reads: Traditions of Prydein son of Aedd the Great According to the medieval Welsh Names of the Island of Britain, Britain was originally named Clas Myrddin (‘Merlin’s Precinct’). After the island was seized and occupied, it was named Y Vel Ynys (‘The Island of Honey’). Only after it was conquered by Prydein son of Aedd the Great (Aedd Mawr), was is named Ynys Brydein (‘Island of Prydein’). In some Welsh king lists based on Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Brittaniae, Aedd Mawr and Prydein are inserted in place of Geoffrey’s Kinmarc, Gorboduc, and Porrex. The scholar Richard Vaughn left a note which refers to Aedd Mawr, Prince of Cornwall, and his son Prydein, who subdued the entire island which took its name from him. Vaughn places this conquest after the death of Porrex. The notice appears in Bromich 2006, page 484. Great Britain and Little Britain In French and in most European languages, in common usage during the late medieval period, Britain and related words was used primarily to refer to Brittany, or Little Britain. Its use to refer to England or even to the island of Britain was somewhat archaic in common speech. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae may be the first to use the term Britannia Major (‘Great Britain’) for the island of Britain to distinguish it from Britannia Minor (‘Little Britain’ or ‘Lesser Britain’) in France. In subsequent French literature the island of Britain is sometimes called “Bretaigne la Grant” as opposed to “Petite Bretaigne” or “Bretaigne la minor”. Where “Bretagne” occurs without modification, whether it refers to the island of Britain or to Brittany must be determined by context. Translations into English sometimes get this wrong. Post-Medieval Official Use of Great Britain The first use of “Great Britain” in official documents, as opposed to literary use, is in a proposal for a marriage between Cecily the daughter of Edward IV of England, and James the son of James III of Scotland, which described it as “this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee”. In 1604, King James VI and I, proclaimed his assumption of the throne in the style "King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland ...”. The Act of Union of 1707, states that England and Scotland shall “be united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain”, making official what had hitherto been informal usage. Welsh Use of Prydein Prydein is the Welsh name for Britain, usually appearing as Ynys Prydein or Ynys Brydein meaning Island of Britain. When used without the initial “Ynys”, it usually refers to the territories of the British south of the land of the Picts and south of the lands of the Scots. That is, it refers to the countries of England and Wales. The northern regions of the island are called Prydyn, apparently in origin a version of the same name. Vagueness in Some Arthurian Texts What is covered by the name Britain for Arthur’s kingdom remains somewhat vague in the texts. For example, in the Prose Tristan, Britain appears to be separate from Cornwall. People travel from Britain to Cornwall and from Cornwall to Britain. Some Name Variations FRENCH: Bretaigne, Bartaigne, Bertaigne, Bertaingne, Bretagne, Bretaige, Bretaing(g)ne, Bretrangne, Bretaygne, Bretei(n)gne; LATIN: Britannia; ENGLISH: Bruttene, Brutene, Brutaine, Bruttene, Brutene, Brutten, Bruttaine, Brutaine, Bruttaine, Brutlonde, Brutlond Brutlond, Britayne, Brutlodes, Bretayne, Bretayne, Bretaigne, Bretayn, Breteyn, Breteine, Bretein, Breotayne, Breteygne, Breteyne, Breteigne, Bretaygne, Breteigne, Brittaine, Bretaige, Bretten, Brettayn’, Bryttayne, Britane, Brittaine, Brytayne, Brutayne; MALORY: Brytayne, Bretayne, Bretyane; GERMAN: Bertâne, Bretãne, Britâne; DUTCH: '' Bertaenge Bertaengie; ''NORSE: Bretlandi; SPANISH: Bretaña; PORTUGUESE: Bretanha, Bertanha; ITALIAN: Brettagna, Brectagna; IRISH: Bhalbhuaidh, Uallabh; WELSH: Prydein (Prydain). References Bromwich, Rachel. Trioedd Ynys Prydein. Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 2006. [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_089/89_055_066.pdf ADS Denys Hay, The use of the term “Great Britain” in the Middle Ages, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1955-56, pp.55-66]